NEWPORT NEWS - Control of the region's largest labor union and its roughly 6,800 members is at stake this week in an election that pits a two-term shipyard incumbent against the man he replaced six years ago.

The order book for the shipyard, which is owned by a joint venture led by the construction firms and two junior partners, includes more than 20 tankers, drilling rigs and an offshore platform—all for Petrobras, at a cost to the oil company of more than $8 billion.

But a sale of the Asian business, while far from certain, would mean the company's focus will shift again to the Dubai-based shipyard, which is considered much more commercially viable and therefore could gain easier access to funding for now and once the debt restructuring talks are completed.